Chocolate Sheet Cake

Another recipe that I got off another blog, but am sharing here....

Anyway, last night we had some people over for dessert and so I tried The Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake. I wasn't expecting to like it because I don't think I've ever met a sheet cake I've liked, but this is awesome. Its easy to make, uses ingredients you have on hand, and makes a lot. It is VERY chocolaty, but I like that. So try it and then eat it all in less than 24 hours like my family has!!

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

This recipe is from a new food blog I found, Our Best Bites. Its certainly not the kind of meal you'd want to eat regularly, but super yummy every once in a while. The blog has a bunch of really good and practical (things you'd really prepare and your family would really eat) recipes.

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

Click here to print text only

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

About 8 oz. lean bacon, NOT thick-sliced (thick bacon is too hard to work with in this recipe)

1 large can pineapple chunks (you won't use all of them)

Homemade Teriyaki sauce (the best!) or Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste and Glaze

Kebab skewers or toothpicks

Now...the easiest way to handle the bacon situation is to remove it from the package and while it's still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you're using center-cut bacon (and the "slab" is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Refrigerate until ready to use, partially because it's easier to work with cold bacon and partially because you don't want to kill any dinner guests with dead pig germs.

Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you'll need by how many pieces of bacon you have; you probably won't use all the bacon, but you'll need about 8 oz. or 2/3 of a standard-sized package of bacon. So count the bacon pieces and keep that in mind when cutting up your chicken.

Drain the pineapple and set up a little work station with skewers, bacon, chicken, and a 9x13 baking dish (for big skewers) or a sturdy Ziploc bag (for toothpick skewers). Wrap a piece of bacon around a chicken piece, secure with toothpick/skewer, and top with a chunk of pineapple. Repeat twice if using large skewers. When all chicken pieces have been sufficiently staked, pour Teriyaki sauce over everything, reserving about 1/4 c., and marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours, no longer than about 8.

Preheat grill**; when about 350-400 degrees, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes.

*If serving at a party, you can keep the appetizer-sized skewers warm in a crockpot set to low or an electric roaster set to 170 degrees.

**If cooking in oven, preheat oven to 400 and bake about 20 minutes, turning once, following the same basting instructions.

Black Bean Burgers and Potato Wedges

We tried the Black Bean Burger recipe from Safely Gathered In last night. I'll let you look up the recipe there, if you're so inclined. They were pretty yummy, although (surprise) tasted nothing like burgers. We tried them with a few different toppings and salsa was definitely the best.

We've also had these potato wedges a few times. They are way easy and really good: Wash and DRY 4 med potatoes, then cut into wedges. Coat in egg whites, place skin side down in a greased pan and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

Baked Oatmeal

Betsy and I discussed Baked Oatmeal this week and I tried it for breakfast this morning. Here is the recipe I used:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup raisins



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

It was really good and super easy. Everyone liked it. I'm going to try to find another recipe that would be food storage suitable. When I do I"ll let you know.

My Minestrone

I tried Kris' minestrone soup recipe and it was delicious. Thought I'd show you a photo...

I was missing a spice or two and (gasp) was out of parmesan cheese, but it was still great. A good way too for Harrison to have carrots and celery since they're still a little too much for him to chew.

Peanut Butter Brownies

This recipe requires a couple bowls but is totally worth the clean up. It is best eaten cooled down, not right out of the oven. A brownie mix could be substituted for bowl 2 and 3 but I have never tried it that way.


mix until smooth in bowl 1:
6 oz cream cheese softened
3/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
2 T milk

in bowl 2 mix:
1 c butter, melted
2 c sugar
2 t vanilla
3 egg

in bowl 3 combine:
3/4 c cocoa powder
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

add bowl 3 to bowl 2.

spread all but 1 c of chocolate mixture into 9x13 pan
spread peanut butter filling on top
drop remaining chocolate mixture over top
mix with knife for marbled or desired effect

bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Cabbage Rolls

This may be cheating, but we just tried a new recipe that I got from allrecipes.com for cabbage rolls. We've been trying some new meals and this one was pretty good. It was nice to put it in the crockpot and just have it ready at dinner time. We had it with a green salad. (I would double the sauce recipe)